The Vatican Secretary of State has said the harassment of Christians in the West Bank is “absolutely unacceptable” and questioned why they should be subjected to such treatment “simply for living their normal lives.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin made the comments during a press conference in Rome on October 21, 2025, on the sidelines of a meeting on global religious freedom, according to Vatican News.

“This is certainly a very complex issue,” he said, “but we fail to understand why these Christians, who are simply living their normal lives, should be subjected to such hostility.”

He specifically referenced recent incidents in the Christian town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, describing them as a “clear violation of the principles of coexistence and religious freedom.”

Cardinal Parolin also addressed the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying the Holy See remains “full of hope” that the peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could still be effective, despite the ongoing violence.

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Christian sites and communities in the West Bank and Jerusalem have increased in recent years, prompting repeated condemnations from local churches and the Vatican, according to Middle East Monitor.

They also reported that these attacks are part of a broader pattern of settler violence against Palestinians, which has escalated since the war in Gaza and has been widely criticized for taking place amid what rights groups describe as a lack of legal accountability.